Oscars to Go on As Planned, Despite War

Published
7:00 pm EST, Monday, March 17, 2003

Organizers of the 75th annual Oscar awards say the impending war in Iraq won't derail Hollywood's biggest event on Sunday.

President Bush's 48-hour ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or be forced out by military action increased the likelihood that news coverage could supersede the live Academy Awards telecast on ABC.

Show producer Gil Cates has acknowledged that war would change the tone of the production, but as of late Monday the glitzy red-carpet ceremony was still scheduled to proceed as planned.

If the country is at war on Sunday, he has said ABC might break away from the ceremony for news updates or even run a news crawl across the bottom of the screen.

Many nominees noted the show would likely be a much more somber affair if the country is at war.

Nicole Kidman, a lead-actress nominee for "The Hours," said at an Oscar luncheon last week she is "in two minds" about attending the event during war.

"There are two arguments, aren't there, where they say you need to continue on with things and not be stopped, and then there's the other thing where you just say, of course, it would feel very strange to show up," she said.